Gawler Wheelers Ride Report 3rd March 2018

It was a great day for a ride, a little bit of cloud cover, no hint of rain, and the temperature to creep up during the morning . Plus we had just on 55 riders out for a ride, which is great and as a group we always welcome new riders. It’s not only about the ride, it’s a lot to do with the rides on offer, support along the way, plus the socialising after the ride. A great mix.

We had three options on again.

There was the short ride to Freeling, then out to the Sturt Highway, before looping back to Freeling and home, 52 kms and 342 m of climbing.

The middle ride took in Salisbury, up Williams Road, across to One Tree Hill, before the run home along One Three Hill Road. 63 kms and 529 m of climbing

The longer ride took in Kersbrook, Cudlee Creek, Gumeracha, Williamstown and then home. 84 kms and 1,030 m of climbing.

So again something for everyone.

The short ride saw three take it on , Chris T, Daniel and myself. This a is a nice flat ride and just the ticket if you are a bit pressured for time etc. Chris needed to get back for a do, so did half of the ride with the others, then headed straight back home from Freeling, with a great place to regroup, now the bakery is open early!

There was great work by Daniel, as this was his first 50 k ride, plus he was on a new bike. He is now planning get in more Ks on the bike and gear up as well, including getting clip-ins and riding kit etc, which always add to your enjoyment and overall output. Great to see.

The middle ride had the biggest takers with 27 rides. This ride manoeuvres though the suburbs and got a little bit messy through Salisbury as there are lots of roundabouts etc to navigate around.

Again Williams Road was the big challenge. It’s steep and you really need to get in to rhythm and pace yourself. In the end all good.

The next section included Black Top Road, which undulates a bit so fun, plus the views are a great.

At One Tree Hill the market was in full swing, so plenty of action happening especially when 27 riders descend on one spot.

The next section included the run along Gawler One Tree Hill Road and then a quick descent down Kentish Road. This is a great road to come down, although you need to keep an eye out for people leaving their properties, plus giving yourself enough time to stop at the bottom ( obviously)

The last section included riding through the suburbs again, with a few people not quite getting the route down pat as there are a few tricky twists and turns, but in the end everyone was fine, all safely back.

Thanks to Dave for being ride leader and Brad for a great job as TEC and dishing out the jelly snakes!

The longer ride was the ride that provided a really good challenge. Many people have wanted to do a longer ride, but these tend to be ridden at a quicker pace, which many people aren’t overly keen to do. In this case, it was advertised well in advance that there would be two distinct groups, a quicker group, led by Craig B and a moderate group lead by Geraint. This worked a treat with 11 for the quicker group and 14 for the moderate paced group. By having the message out nice and early, people could make the decision early in the week and get prepared, instead of making the decision on the Saturday morning.

The moderate got themselves organised first and headed off and were well on their way when the faster group passed them as they headed off towards Kersbrook. In fact it gave two riders from the fast group an opportunity to slip into the moderate group. As the group got going they were able to split up into distinct bunches, which allowed cars etc to move around them.

Just nearing Kersbrook there were a few mechanicals, and of course it happens in threes. Peter B had a mishap with his chain, Dave T had a flat and Linda needed an adjustment to sort something out. All good mechanically after that. Here is Peter ready to fix his bike.

The rest of the ride was a lot of fun with everyone putting in a great effort. A special mention for Angela, who a year ago to the day had a serious accident that needed a fair bit of recovery time and effort. She pushed through all of that, and is back up and firing again, and by taking on the distance and climbing today, it is a testament to her and her determination to get back to riding. It is great to see how fantastically she has rebounded.

The faster group also had a great time of it. They were able to set up strong pace lines and by quickly swapping through were able to set a quick pace. They also decided to keep regroups to a minimum so they could keep rolling along. This provided to be a great strategy with the group setting a very strong average and getting back in a very quick time.

Here is the first stop at Kersbrook after the first serious climb.

After that they pushed on to Gumeracha, where unfortunately BJ got a flat, which resulted in a quick stop.

From there it was smooth sailing for the rest of the ride and again all home safe.

Here are some shots of the groups.

Simon, enjoying the climbing.

Kevin and Matt, and welcome to Matt, out for his first ride with the Wheelers.

Thanks to Craig B for leading the faster group and Geraint for leading the moderate group.

With everyone back at the Exchange, it was time to socialise and enjoy the rewards of a great morning out riding.

We also had two weeks’ worth of weekly recognition awards.

Firstly thanks to Michael for taking on the role of organising the TEC roster. Without the TEC and the Ride Leaders it would be impossible to run the rides we do. So please, if you can put up your hand for either role, they are not too difficult and it gives a completely different and enjoyable view of the rides.

Scott was also thanked. Scott is a regular rider with the Wheelers and put up his hand to be either a TEC or Ride Leader. Just fantastic. Please note how good his new GW cap goes with his riding kit.

BJ is also a regular rider with the Wheelers for many years. He is great at setting the pace and taking big turns when leading a bunch of riders, and always happy to help out others. Great stuff.

Caren has really built up her strength and stamina over the years and is riding very strongly, especially over the longer distances. Great stuff.

Paula is also one who has really embraced cycling. She started out on her daughter’s old bike, took some time to build up her skills before venturing out with the Wheelers, and is now absolutely smashing it. Great to see.

So another great morning out with the Wheelers, it’s great to see so many people out and enjoying being on their bikes, getting the Ks done and enjoying the comradery.

Until next week,

Stay safe

Cheers

Paul K.

Also thanks to all those that contributed photos from across the different rides; Mark, Scott, Andrea and Craig B.

Gawler Wheelers: Winners of the Gawler Australia Day Community Group of the Year Award 2013